RECRUITMENT - 23.03.2006

Safe rejections

Recruitment ads

Firstly, look at your ads. Are you excluding minority groups? Remember women are regarded as a minority group in this context! Avoid using job titles such as “salesman”, “warehouseman” etc. Far better are titles such as “sales representative” or “warehouse assistant”. The former suggest a man is required whereas the latter give no hint as to the preferred sex of the candidate. It’s true that, in some jobs, you can stipulate a particular sex, race, religion or sexual orientation but these are few and far between. If you operate in a multi-racial community ensure your vacancies are open to all - consider advertising in newspapers aimed at minorities.

Qualified? Have you asked for particular qualifications such as GCSE English? You could risk a race discrimination claim, as anyone from overseas is unlikely to have these qualifications. Ask whether the qualification is absolutely necessary and, if it is, make sure you state “or equivalent”.

Tip. Look at every word in your ad and ask whether the requirements can be justified and could they discriminate against a minority group. Leave the door even slightly ajar and someone may well try to take advantage.

Personnel specification

Your person specification effectively describes your ideal candidate. The best way to approach this is to draw up three columns. In the first will be the “factors” that you will use to judge a candidate, e.g. computer skills. In the middle column will be “essential” skills, qualifications, personality traits etc. that the person must have such as must be able to use Word. In the third column will be your “desirable” qualities, e.g. able to use Excel. If applications do not meet all your essential criteria then you should not be interviewing them. Essential should mean what it says. If you’re taken to tribunal you can produce your person specification as evidence supporting your decision not to progress that application (see the Next Step).

Tip. A good way of doing this is to produce a spreadsheet showing all the criteria from your second column. Candidates are then assessed against these. Evidence like this might prove conclusive (in your favour).

Disability

If you ask candidates to complete an application form in their own handwriting it could discriminate against those with a disability, e.g. someone with dyslexia or a problem with their hands. So add a line to your recruitment ad to say that anyone requiring an alternative application method should make contact. However the application is finally submitted, the candidate still has to tick all the right boxes - this is where your person specification comes back into play.

Why it’s worth doing. Remember, the point of all this is not that you have to hire someone who’s, e.g. disabled or from a minority group, but to protect yourself from claims of discrimination - the onus is on you to prove that discrimination did not take place. By following these basic procedures, you’ll still be free to choose the candidate you want.